Upholstered structure and fabric therefor.



c. A. VAN DERVEER.

URHOLSTERED STRUCTURE AND FABRIC THEREFOR, APPLICATION FlLfD Dic.28.19|5.

1,213,559V v Patented. Jan; 23, 1917;l

2SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. A. VAN DEHVEER. UPHOLSTERED STRUCTURE AND FABRIC THEREFOR. Armrcnlol FILED nmz. |915.

1,213,559. Y Patented Jan. 23, 1917.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE A. VAN DERVEEB, F WAKEFIELD. MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 HEY- WOD BROTHERS AND WAKEFIELD COMPANY, 0F WAKEFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

UPHOLSTERED STRUCTURE AND AFABRIC THEREFOR.

Speelcation of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 23, 1917.

Application led December 2B, 1915. Serial He.l 69,007.

railroad cars, and in some cases the seatl backs are formed to provide a headroll, a

neck, and a bustle, such forni of back conforming substantially to tllie neck, slioulders, and back of the occupants. In order to give a seat back such form it is necessary to creuse or indent the woven cane fabric on lilies corresponding to the junction of the head-roll and neck aiidto the' junction of the neck and bustle, and to hold in the fabric at the said junctions to maintain the desired form and `appearance of `the back. This has been done hitherto by 'st ickinv a stitchreceiving sti-ifi of soft woven d fa iric, such as canvas, to tithe back of the cane fabric or to the lining', if the cane fabric has a lining, and by sewingr the said strip to the inner structure of the back, by stitches dra wn tight to crease or indent the cane fabric. In such cases the cane fabric is dependent upon a dhesive ,material for its creased formation and is coiistantlmiwv tending to pull away from the stitch-receiving strip. This is especially objectionable lwhen glue the adhesive substance, because some railroads wash the cane fabric from linie to time, and the water softens the glue, So that the cane fabric is released and springs away from the fastening strip. It is thereafter impossible to restore the original shape o'l' the cane fabric without driving metallic $745 fasteners through it and into the'wooden frame upon which the structure is built..

VThe driving of metallic fasteners through the cane fabric as hitherto inade splits the woven menibeis. and in tiuic the heads of 56 the fasteners will pass through the cane and 5 the latter will be again released and spring away from the upholstering material, and it V"will be in a worse condition than formerly 'tion'of the cord. tional view through the structure ntersected .by lino Elf-..3 of Fig. t.

because of the injury caused by the splitting of the cane and by the passing of the metallic fasteners therethrough. f

The object of the present invention is to 'provide a woven cane fabric capable of receiviiig fasteners without being split, and to provide an improved upholstered structure, such as a seat hack, in which my improved cane fabric is used with fasteners to setit iii-on one or more lines to impart and maintain a creased external surface. l The characteristic feature of. the woven cane fabric is that it has one or more woven members made of sonic material less brittle than cane and such nieinberor incinliers are arranged to register with the 'creases or grooves which are to be imparted `to the finished structure. The less brittle member may be a cord or a wire, and its function is to receive the fasteners which ai'c used `to impari the creased or indented formation. Such fasteners mayY be anchored directly to sonic element of the inner structure behind the upholstering 'inatcriab lt' it is desired to fasten the external cane fabric to the wooden frame, metallic staples may be driven into the latter and arranged to straddle the cord or. wire or other member woven into the cane fabric, especially for that purpose; (,)n the other hand. ill the internal structure includes a layer of woven fabric capable of having a sewing needle passed through it readily. stitches may be used :is the means for fastening thc external cane fabric to llie inner strut-tina, and in such case each stitch would pass around the cord or wire or other member ol. thc woven cane fabril', and would be anchored in the woven fabric olI the iniicr structure.

0f the accompanying drawings: Figure 'l Y' therein` to receive fasteners. Fig. 2 represents an elevation. on a larger scale. of a small piece of such fabric including a por- Fig. 3 represents a sccsectional vit vmin-the plane indicated by line 4,-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 represents a sectional view of a portion including the wire. Fig. 6 represents a vertical sectional view of an unholstered seat-back formed to provide a Fig. 4 reiirescuts a` head-roll, a neck, and a. bustle. Fig. 7 represents a vertical.sectionalview,y enna lar r scale, of they uprtionsffini ace'nt the''ulnction-A of the head-roll and nee showing stitches for holding` the ywoyen, cane. fabric.,Fig. .8d` represents a vertical `'sectional viewfof the.

portions adjacent thisv junction of the neck and bustle, and showing metallic .fasteners instead of stitches to Ahold the woven cane fabric. y a i The same reference characters indicate the same parts wherever they occur.

A sheet of Woven cane fabric is indicated as a whole at 10. It is composed essentially of warp members 11 of cane and filling membersv 12 of cane. For a seat back the cane fabric is usually arranged so that the Warp members extend transversely and the filling members extend up and down. In the present instance two special fastener-receiving members 11* and 11b are interwoven with the cane members 11 and 12, and each of said fastener receiving members is a Warp member, and is arranged between two cane members 11. For other uses it might be desirable to arrange the faste-nerieceiving members, or only one of them, so that they would be filling members instead of Warp members, and the invention, in its broadest aspects,V contemplates the latter arrangement. `The characteristic feature of the special` fastener-receiving Vmembers isl that they are stronger and less brittle than cane. The member 11 is represented as a cord, and the member 11b is represented as a wire. y

The piece of fabric shown by Fig. 1 is woven and cut for a seat back of the type shown byFig. 6, and in this instance the seat back calls for two fastener-receiving members.. One fastenerreceiving member would be sutlicient for a seat back of some other type.' Aside from the members 11 and 11b the cane rfabric is' similar to the cane fabrics hitherto used for seats and seat backs. It would be withinthe scope of the present in vention vto use two wires or two cords-instead of one of each, or to interchange the Wire and cord. yIn any event` for a seat back of the type shown, oney of the fastenerreceiving 'members would he arranged to register with the junction between the headroll and neck of the seat back. and the other would be arranged to register with the junction betweeny the neck 'and bustle of the seat back, as will be understood after further description.

v The `seat back illustrated by Fig. (l is formed to providea head roll indicated as a whole at 15.' afnecl indicated as a whole at 16, and a bustle indicated as a whole at 17. The back comprises a wooden frame including a transverse top board 18, a transverse bottom board if). and a transverse intermediate board 20. The ends of these boards are connected by upright boards such as that indicated at 21. A series of upright slats 22 .entendfroml the bottom boardy 19 Yto -theiin- 'termediateboat-d20 to brace: the bustlep'or- `tion of. the back. The head-roll includes a row of helical .compression springs such as -rthat,.indicated at 23, and they are seated againstltheboard 18. Theneck portion 1G 1s provided with a row of helical compres- .,sion. springs Isuch as that indicated at 25,

and the bustle portion' is provided with helical compression springs such as those indicated at 26,26. The springs are confined by woven fabric 27` but thin steelpla-tes 28 are arranged between the ends of the springs and the fabric 27 to protect the latter. from the chafing action of the springs. The fabric 27 may be a sheet of burlap, canvas, or duck, extending throughoutfthe width of the seat back, or it may comprise a plurality lof relatively narrow strips or webs of sufficient width to sustain the plates 28.

The Wooden frame, the springs, the plates 28, and the fabric 427 constitute what is hereinafter termed the inner structure. These elements are assembled before the upholstering material and the external covering are applied. It will not be necessary to I describe the methodof procedure followed deflection of the helical compression springs.

The fabric 27 is fastened to the upper edge of the top board` 18 by tacks 20 and to the lower portion of the same board by tacks 30. It is fastened to the upper portion of v the board 20 by tacks 31, and to the lower portion ofsaid board by tacks 32, and` it is fastened to the lower edge of the board 19 by tacks 33.

Although I have described the internal structure 4and arrangement of the elements as shown, it is not to be understood that the invention is limited to this specific form of structure, nor to this specific arrangement `of elements.

After the inner structure has been assembled. the upholste'ring material is put in place'and held temporarily by any suitable means (not shown). For a back of the type to which this invention relates, the upholstering material is divided into `sections to enable the external covering of woven cane to be drawn in or indented between tbe `contiguous sections. In accord- -ance with this requirement the upholster- V .so

misano to the top e ge of the board 18 by driving tacks 37 into the latter. Care will be taken to have the fastener-receiving member 11 register with the junction 0f the head-roll and neck portion when the outer covering is drawn down with sufiicie'nt stress to compress the upholstering material of the head roll. If it is desired to use stitches,4 as indicated at 38, to fastenithe member 11 to the inner structure, that portion of the covering 10* which lies below the member 11 may be turned outwardly and upwardly to facilitate the passage of the sewing needle, which is usually curved, around the member lill from the inner side of the cover-4 ing. Such stitches will be anchored in the woven fabric 27 of the inner structure and 'will be drawn in with considerable tension to crease or indent the outer covering. Theywill not be visible outside the covering. because each stitch will-lie behind and be concealed by a cane member 12 as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

After the member 11* has been fastened by a` series of fasteners, the member 11T will be fastened by another yrow of fasteners, for example staples, as indicated at 41;

When staples are used they will be driven into the board 2O of the wooden frame. After the desired number of fasteners 41 have been driven. the' lower edge 10b of the covering will be fastened to the lower edge of the board 19 by tacks 40. but such fastening may be deferred till the other covering 10 has been applied to the opposite side of the back, and the two lower edges may be fastened simultaneously by the same tacks 40.

Although I have shown and described stitches for fastening the member 11, and metallic staples for fastening the member 1.1".it would be within the scope of this invention to use staples for fastening the member 11l and stitches for fastening the member 1l`". Furthermore, stitches'might be used for fastening both,. orfstaples might bc used for fastening both, the substance of which the members .11* and` 11 are com posed baring nothing to do with the chary by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and for this reason stitches would be the preferable means if it were desired to have the fasteners whollv concealed.

I c aim:

1. A woven fabric consisting essentially of warp members of cane and filling members of cane but having one or more stronger members of less brittle material of sub stantially circular cross section woven therein between the cane members.

2. A woven fabric consisting essentially of warp members of cane and fillingr mem bers of cane but baring one or more stronger warp members of less brittle material of substantially circu ar cross section woven therein between the cane warp members.

3. A woven fabric consisting essentially of warp members of cane and filling members of cane but having a cord woven therein betueen two cane members.

4. An upholstered structure comprising a fastener-receiving element, an external covering fabric of cane warp members, cane filling members, and a member less brittle than cane, said cane members and said less brittle member being interwoven with each other, said fabric having a crease, and said less brittle member being arranged to lie in said crease, two substantially contiguous sections of upholsterin material between said fastener-receiving e ement and said external `covering fabric,' and a series of fasteners each anchored to said fastener-receiving element and embracing said less brittle member, said fasteners extending between said sections of upholstering material.

5. An upholstered structure comprising bracing said woven member, said fasteners extending between said sections of up holstering material.

6. An upholstered structure comprising an inner structure including a layer of woven fabric, an external covering of woven cane fabric having an interwoven member less brittle than cane; two substantiallyeontiguous sections of upholstering material between said inner .structure and said external covering, and e series of stitches each anchored to said fabric of said inner struc ture and embracing said woven member of said external covering, said stitebes extend ing between said sections of '.ipholstering material.

7. An upholstered seat-back comprising a fastener-receiving clement. an external covering of woven cane fabric havinrv an inter- 'rover-ing of woven cane fabric having an member'being arranged to register with the mman interwoven member less brittle than cane, a section of upholstering'material arranged to form the. bustle 'of said seat-buck, a seci tion of upholstering material arranged to form the neck of said sent-buck, vsaid woven junction of said bustle und neck, nnd"a Iseries of fasteners each anchored to said fastoner-r celvin,'v element and embracing said woven member, said fnstenersexterd- 25 ing between .said sections of upholstering material. i

In testimony whereof IA have ynfiixed'myA signature. CLARENCE A. VAN DERVEER.' 

